She broke off and her skin turned a sickly green. “I found him.”
Lucas nodded slowly. “And is there anything missing from the house?”
“Nothing I’ve found so far, sir.” She drew in a few harsh breaths. “The other servants are looking. I’ll inform you if they find anything.”
“Thank you,” Charlie said with a warm smile for the woman. “You may go now.”
As the woman stumbled away, the Watch guard’s face lightened. “So it’s a whore we’re looking for.”
Lucas got to his feet, smoothing a hand over his face. “No. I doubt many women could do such damage to a grown man of Sansbury’s strength. And most lightskirts would have taken the valuables in the room. There are many expensive items that were left behind completely untouched. I don’t think Sansbury was expecting a woman last night. But he was expecting someone.”
Charlie nodded in agreement. “Have you searched the body?”
Lucas shook his head. “No. Not yet. I was about to do so when you arrived.”
Isley looked at the guard. “Continue interviewing the servants.”
The young man seemed disappointed not to be involved in the grisly work ahead, but he went away as ordered. Lucas went back into the bloody parlor with Isley at his heels.
“I’ll search the body if you want to look in that desk on the west wall,” Lucas suggested.
Charlie met his eyes and Lucas could see he hadn’t forgotten the subject of Ana’s absence, just set it aside for the moment. There was mistrust in the other man’s round face and annoyance at the idea that one of his spies had been left out of the investigation.
But as Lucas looked around him, he was happy she wasn’t there. She shouldn’t have to see such carnage. Such brutality. Truth be told, he didn’t want to see her beautiful face surrounded by the ugliness, either. Didn’t want her tainted by the blood and turmoil.
“Very well,” Charlie finally answered. “I’ll look at the desk.”
As the other man crossed the room, Lucas hunched down. Sansbury was laying on his back, arms raised in front of him in a failed attempt to shield himself from the attack that took his life. One hand was clenched into a fist, but the other was mangled. Lucas reached out and touched the rigid fingers. They were all broken, torn backward.
He tilted his head. Hidden amongst the blood in Sansbury’s palm was a little piece of paper. A corner from a larger piece. Gingerly, he removed the slip and turned it over. There was nothing on the paper, but it was a heavy sheet. Expensive.
“He was clenching a paper. Someone broke his hand to get to it,” he called out.
Charlie joined Lucas. “Let me see.”
He took the piece gingerly to examine it. Lucas thought he saw some look of recognition in Charlie’s face, but then it was gone. He pursed his lips. If the other man knew something, he wasn’t going to tell him, likely as punishment for leaving Ana out of the scene.
He probably deserved that.
“Did you find anything?” Lucas asked, giving Charlie a look of challenge.
The other man’s face remained stoic. “There’s nothing new to be found, I don’t think. Except that Sansbury isn’t the man behind these attacks after all.”
As Charlie returned to the desk and his search, Lucas sighed. Yes, that much was becoming clear. He couldn’t believe that Sansbury’s brutal murder didn’t relate in some way to the deaths of the spies in the field. And if he’d been murdered for what he knew, that meant someone else knew more. Someone else had secrets to keep of their own.
The only solace he could take was that Henry couldn’t be responsible for this attack. In his wheelchair, there was no way he could brutally murder someone in this fashion.
He straightened up. He couldn’t believe he was even thinking such a thing. Taking the time to eliminate Henry from a crime he wouldn’t have even considered him a suspect in just one month before.
And he could only pray he was right in eliminating his friend from guilt.
“Sansbury is dead?” Ana repeated, sitting down in a chair across from Charlie with a thud. “When? Where? How?”
Charlie’s forehead wrinkled. “Blast that Lucas Tyler! I knew he kept you in the dark.”
“What do you mean?” she whispered, even though she knew exactly what her superior meant. Her chest tightened. When she’d awoken alone, with only a note from Lucas, she’d been too flushed with the night’s pleasures to question where he had gone. What a fool she was!
Here she’d been fantasizing about his touch all while he’d left her out of the case. Her face burned with embarrassment.
“Lucas was on the scene this morning, along with members of the Watch. He avoided all my questions about your whereabouts.” Charlie rubbed his eyes. “He did not inform you of anything?”
“No, I have not seen him this morning. When he left Sansbury’s residence, he didn’t return home.” She folded her arms. “Please fill me in.”
Charlie nodded. “Sansbury was found dead this morning.”
“How?” she pressed, leaning forward. The anger was still burning inside of her, but she set it aside to do her work.
“He was bludgeoned to death some time during the night.” Charlie grimaced. “Ugly business.”
She nodded, though some part of her was suddenly glad she hadn’t gone with Lucas. She’d seen the dead before, but it was never something she relished.
“Tell me everything.”
She listened in horror as Charlie steepled his fingers and quietly recounted the brutality of the murder. And the fact that Sansbury had been expecting whoever took his life.
“So he probably knew the man.”
She thought of the shadowy figure she’d seen with Sansbury the night of the General’s soiree. Neither she nor Lucas had been able to make out his face in the dark. Though she’d heard snippets of angry words, she hadn’t been able to place the person’s voice, either.
“Is this connected to the attacks on the spies, do you think?”
Charlie shrugged. “We aren’t sure, but it fits. As you know, there has been a cloud of suspicion around Sansbury for weeks. Nothing in the house was stolen except for a piece of paper the man was holding in his hand during the attack. Tyler found it in the man’s broken fingers.”
Ana winced. “Do you have it?”
“No.” Charlie barked out a humorless laugh. “He insisted on keeping it as evidence. But I found something else. Something I kept from him as deftly as he kept all this information from you.”
She cocked her head. “You did?”
“Yes. While your new husband was searching the body, I found this in Sansbury’s desk drawer. It was jammed into a book.” He pulled out a piece of paper that was covered in scattered numbers. “It is written on the same kind of paper as the scrap found in Sansbury’s dead hand.”
She snatched it up. “These numbers could be code.”
He nodded. “I thought perhaps Sansbury invited his killer there to blackmail him with whatever was written on the note in his hand.”
She smiled. “Do you think he might have written it out twice, once encoded, just in case he needed it for leverage later? Do you have the book this sheet was in?”
Charlie nodded as he opened a thick file and withdrew a heavy tome. “I took it as evidence, as well. Why?”
Ana looked at the book. It was a thick volume about animal husbandry. Her suspicions pricked.
“Perhaps Sansbury wanted us to find this.” She held it up. “It’s certainly not the sort of reading a man of Society would normally have in his desk at his fashionable London home. I think this is a book code.”
“Book code?”
“The numbers coincide with page numbers, line numbers, and letter numbers in a book.” She clutched the volume against her chest. “Probably the one he hid the note in. Charlie, I could kiss you!”
The other man smiled, his red cheeks reddening even more. “But you won’t. You’ll go home and decode this letter.” His smile
fell. “Now, would you like to see the evidence I’ve uncovered that involves Henry Bowerly?”
The joy Ana felt over the potential power of the evidence in her hand bled away at Charlie’s reminder of why she had been summoned here initially.
“Yes,” she said softly as she put the encoded letter and the book in her reticule. “What did you find?”
Charlie motioned to a mountain of paperwork on the table behind her. Together, they walked over to it.
“It was not easy to obtain, I assure you. The War Department isn’t keen on our organization.”
“I can imagine,” she said, staring at the pile.
“And since Cliffield does internal work for them, getting access without it being common knowledge was even more difficult. But I called in a few favors and I can only hope my contacts will be discreet.”
Ana nodded. She had the feeling Lucas had not yet told Henry her assertions when it came to his potential involvement. She could only imagine Cliffield’s reaction when he heard she suspected him of treason.
Especially if she was correct. That could be a terribly dangerous prospect. If the man was capable of murder and maiming his fellow spies, people he claimed to like and respect, what would he do to her? What would he do to Lucas?
And how had he orchestrated it all from his wheelchair? That was another lingering question she had yet to find an answer to.
“I’ve yet to sift through most of it,” Charlie admitted as she thumbed through a few pieces. “But I did find some troubling things in the pages I did review.”
“Which ones?” she asked.
He picked up a slim pile and handed it over. She skimmed the lines and found they were internal reports from Henry’s superiors. Each was dated before Henry’s attack a year before.
“It seems the Marquis of Cliffield was investigated at least twice just before his injuries,” Charlie said. “Once he was reprimanded for mishandling evidence that was ‘lost’ on a case. And once for taking a large sum of money in another case. But he was cleared of that.”
Ana found the file he was talking about and read over the lines. “This has a notation at the end about seeking another internal investigation.”
Charlie leaned over her shoulder and looked. “As I said, I only gave these things a cursory look. But…” He hesitated and flipped through the papers on the table. “I do have the file that notation refers to here.”
She took the new file and flipped it open. As she read the record, her eyes widened. “After Henry was cleared, another spy was arrested for the theft.” Her heart was pounding so loudly she could hardly hear her own voice. “But before he could come to trial, he was found dead. Bludgeoned to death in his prison cell.”
Charlie took a stumbling step back and the two locked gazes. “That bodes poorly.”
“Yes.” She set the file down. “Oh, Charlie. Why in the world would a man like this turn to the darkness of being a traitor? He has rank, he has money…”
“Well, he had money.” Charlie sorted through the pages until he came upon what he was looking for. “These financial records indicate his estate has had a few problems in the past two years. Some poor investments. Perhaps money was part of the motive after all.”
She nodded, but the idea didn’t fully fit. “It seems like such a sacrifice, such a risk, for something so small.”
“Perhaps.” Charlie’s face twisted and Ana saw the pain, the wear of years around his eyes in a way she hadn’t before. “But men have done worse for far less.”
“May I take these papers with me?” she asked, gathering the piles. “Perhaps I’ll find more clues if I review them more closely.”
He nodded. “Of course.” He handed her a large satchel, which she put the papers into, her mind buzzing with possibility. As he walked her to the door, he smiled. “And I hope you plan to take Lucas Tyler to task for leaving you out of the investigation.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Oh don’t worry, Charlie. My new husband will definitely hear from me on that score.” She gave him a wave as she moved into the foyer. “Good afternoon. I’ll send word the moment I’ve decoded this or if I find anything else that helps us sort out this madness.”
With Charlie’s good-byes ringing in her ears, Ana headed down the walkway to her waiting carriage on the street. She was still a few feet away when from around the opposite side strode Lucas. Judging from the fire in his eyes and the harsh set to his jaw, he was as displeased with her as she was with him.
“Where have you been?” he snapped as he opened Charlie’s gate and walked toward her.
Her mouth dropped open. He had the gall to question her whereabouts when she knew full well that he’d hidden his own location just hours before?
“I might ask you the same thing,” she said, folding her arms. The big satchel full of evidence bounced against her hip and she shifted under its weight.
Lucas’s eyes narrowed as he reached out and slipped the bag from her arm, opened the carriage door and put it inside. But when he motioned for her to follow, she shook her head.
“I know where you were, Lucas. I know about Sansbury.”
His gaze darted around, but there was no indication anyone else was around, let alone paying attention to their argument.
“Mind your voice.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Mind my voice? You actually have the gall to tell me what to do when you hid a suspect’s murder from me?”
He reached for her, but she pulled her arm from his grasp. “I planned to tell you this evening,” he explained, his harsh whisper grating across her already frazzled nerves. “I needed to see myself.”
“Why?” she snapped. “Why did you leave me out of this crucial element?”
“Because I—” he began, his frustration clear in both his expression and his tone.
Before he could finish, though, there was an explosion of gunpowder behind them and the fence in front of Ana splintered as a bullet struck it from above.
Lucas didn’t think, he didn’t stop, he simply lunged forward, covering Ana with his body and rolling toward a row of nearby bushes. When they were under enough cover, he looked at where the bullet had stuck.
Just inches from where she had been standing. His heart doubled its time with the horror of that fact.
She shifted beneath him. “Let me up,” she whispered.
“No. Not yet. That shot was no accident.”
She met his eyes and one eyebrow arched. “I never said it was, but I can’t breathe.”
He shifted and she moved, leaning up to join him in looking above. Suddenly, she tugged his shirtsleeve.
“There!”
High above, on top of Charlie’s town home was a man. The dark scarf wrapped around his face whipped in the breeze as he turned to run along the roof away from them.
Immediately Lucas was on his feet, running along the perimeter of the house until he saw a ladder that had been propped up in the alleyway. Probably by the person who intended to shoot Ana. He was halfway up the rungs, going two at a time when he felt the ladder shift below him.
He continued to climb as he shouted down, “No! Stay there. Let me follow!”
The shaking below didn’t stop. If anything it increased. Of course she wouldn’t listen.
“You cannot keep me from this, Lucas. I’m coming with you,” she shouted.
He clenched his teeth and kept climbing, vaulting onto the rooftop in a smooth motion. If there were more time, he would gladly stop and argue with her, but the man who had shot at her was already at the edge of Charles Isley’s roof. He made a leap and landed like a cat on the next building. He didn’t miss a step before he was running again.
Lucas swore, tossing a glance behind him to see if Ana was struggling to get on the roof. He was surprised to find she was right behind him.
“What are you waiting for?” she said as she started to run. “Come on!”
Lucas pursed his lips and followed, but he was faster and soon passed her. He watched as the man t
hey were chasing vaulted over the next rooftop. Damn it, they might not catch him now.
The edge of the roof was fast approaching. Lucas knew he could clear it, but with Ana in tow…With another curse, he stopped at the edge.
But to his shock, Ana kept running. Her face twisted and with a grunt, she leapt.
His heart nearly stopped as he watched her fly through the air, hovering over the empty space between the buildings. He tensed as she started her descent, expecting to watch her plummet to the cobblestones below. But instead, she landed on the next roof, dropping down with bent knees to reduce the jarring effects of the landing.
For a moment, she remained that way, her back to him and he jolted. Was she hurt? But then she turned and she had the widest, brightest smile he’d ever seen.
“I cleared it,” she said, her voice registering shock. Then she shook it off and was all business again. “Can’t you?”
His eyes narrowed. Cocky little minx. He took a few steps back and ran, jumping right at the edge of the roof. But the moment he started to fly through the air, he realized he wouldn’t clear the gap. And judging from Ana’s horrified expression, she knew it, too.
Chapter 22
L ucas hit the edge of the building with enough force that the wind was knocked out of his lungs. He clawed at the rooftop for purchase as he slid backward toward the alleyway below. If he couldn’t get a grip, he was going to fall two floors. He would probably break his legs, if not worse. Horror gripped Ana, but she couldn’t stand by and just watch him struggle. Instead, she lunged and caught his arm as her heart rocketed to her throat.
“Pull yourself up,” she said, straining to talk as she fell back on her backside and braced her feet on the roof’s edge. Lucas was so much heavier than she was and her arms tensed to bear his weight. “Come on, Lucas. You aren’t going to fall. I won’t let you.”
He looked up at her, his eyes wide with surprise at her statement, but he didn’t argue. At least not yet. She felt his muscles contract as he pulled, then his leg lifted over the roof edge and he was up. She fell back now that his weight wasn’t pulling her toward the edge and he landed half on top of her.
Desire Never Dies Page 22